Brute’s Bleat by Harold Brutlag- November 14, 2018

My effort at pheasant hunting last week was with Daryl Hennen when I convinced him most of the birds I have seen this year were west of Granite Falls. We left ML about 7 a.m. Our first stop was supposed to be west of Montevideo about 12 miles and south about two miles where I knew a Wildlife Management area (WMA) included some stranding corn as well as several harvested corn field on two sides. A tree line was the western border of the WMA. As we crested the final hill we immediately saw a vehicle parked on the south end where the corn was still standing. It was only about 9:15 and just minutes after the 9 a.m. opener. We thought it might have been a deer hunter until we saw his dog outfitted in a blaze orange skid plate. The hunter didn’t appear to be carrying any pheasants. The next spot contained a tree line and some switch grass next to it which looked inviting. Hennen sent three salvos after a rooster in the tree line, but he figured he shot behind it each time. I saw a hen fly off some harvested corn, but that was it for that WMA. The next WMA was west of Granite Falls where I had an opportunity to harvest my two-bird limit on two occasions earlier this fall, but didn’t. Apparently the hens and roosters have changed locations and weren’t around, but we did hear two crackle. I had a rooster jump up right next to me. The bird must have startled me enough so I couldn’t get the gun off safety and the rooster cackled as it flew away. Talk about ‘buck fever’. We should have had two roosters, but we didn’t. Our final WMA of the day was further west where we hunted some grass along a harvested corn field without putting up any birds. On the way back to the vehicle we hunted cattails along a pot-hole where a rooster jumped behind us. Hennen got off three shots and commented he was behind it with his first shot and then rocked the bird with two and three, but it didn’t come down. I had one long-range shot when the bird cleared the brush, but it just kept on flying. Both Bella and Vanna did a good job of hunting and Vanna gave me a point on a rooster, but couldn’t seem to pin it down. We came home empty handed, but Hennen, being the generous soul he is, commented he’d clean the birds this time! Our next outing will be to North Dakota where we plan to hunt a few days with former ML resident David Kloss this week. Also going along will be Mike Muller and his two setters, Lucky and Jack; Hennen and Bella, and Phil Mooney who will be without his aging Lab, “Say, Pete”. I’m hoping my story next week will contain more kills than misses. That would make wife Janis happy, who thinks hunting more will make me more successful! Logically she’s right, but does it work that way? I’m writing this Saturday, Nov. 10 on a cold day which warmed up to 21 degrees at 3 p.m. The wind is out of the southeast and the snow is beginning to fall as predicted. It’s too early for this cold weather and snow. Maple Lake froze over Friday night according to Jim Lemieux who said the lake was a clear sheet of ice Saturday morning, but not for long when it reopened. I noticed the portion off County Road 37 was iced over, also on Friday. . . My brother, Charles said ice is forming on Ottertail Lake and was out about 50 feet late last week. Rush Lake’s shoreline was also showing the affects of the unusually cold weather. That means winter anglers can sharpen their hooks and fire up the ice auger for Minnesota’s next outdoor winter sport. If the cold weather perists that could happen in a week or two.